Summer Anime 2006

June 26, 2006 | 34 Comments

Okay, I'll have to go in 5 minutes but I figure I'll have the time to post this since I've done most of it a few days ago and all I have to do is just to write the intro paragraph. Next week marks the beginning of Summer Anime season. The season will begin next Thursday with the second season of Honey and Clover. This is definitely one of the few series that I've been looking to watch ever this season. I realise that I already have quite a lot of series on my plate at the moment and I'll try to keep up with them. Thankfully, unlike last season, there are only around 30 series for the season. As usual, however, things will change depending on my schedule and the series themselves. Series that I'd like to watch could turn out to be really bad while there might be some quality ones amongst those that I originally ignore. Anyway, I'm interested to know what everyone else would like to watch this season and why you choose those series.

Hachimitsu to Clover II (Honey and Clover II)
Original Title: 「ハチミツとクローバー」- Hachimitsu to Clover
Created by: Umino Chika
Original Serialisation: Chorus Monthly
Starting date: 29th of June 2006
Animation Studio: J.C.Staff (Honey and Clover, Karin)
Casts: Kudou Haruka (Hanamoto Hagumi), Kamiya Hiroshi (Takemoto Yuuta), Sugita Tomokazu (Mayama Takumi), Ueda Yuji (Morita Shinobu)
Opening Theme: 「ふがいないや」- Fugai nai ya by Yuki
Ending Theme: 「スプリット」- Split by SuneoHair
Story/impression: Honey and Clover is an excellent slice of life series revolving around 5 college students who will soon enter the workforce. The first season focuses mostly on the ups and downs of these characters as they fall in love and try to define their life. The season ended quite well with Takemoto reaching a new level of maturity and courage after his self-discovery journey around Japan. Having said that, the series chose to leave a few things open such as the relationship between Rika, Mayama, Yamada, and Nomiya. Judging from the manga storyline, the new season should give these characters a lot more focus than last season. Also to look forward this season is a character development for Morita. The series will show what kind of childhood did he and Kaoru had and the reason why these two are the way they are now. The question that is on everyone's mind is, of course, could the series replicate the success that it had during in its first season.

It's interesting to see the series being as popular as it is now considering the fact that its debut was greeted with a mild reaction back then. Many people weren't sure back then if Kasai Kenichi can deliver the goods on this series and if Noitamina could be a successful channel that delivers anime targeted towards mature female audiences. Well, Kasai Kenichi proved that he could deliver a good series. Because of this, it's weird that the producer chose to have another director in his stead. Thankfully the new director also happens to be someone who directed episode 12 of the series, which was personally one of my favourite episode. I'll try to keep my expectation grounded but I have to admit that I'm excited to be able to see another round of this series. I'm also glad that the producer settles for a mere 13 episodes instead of pushing this second season as a 26 episode series since there won't be enough material from the manga to cover that many episodes.

Binbou Shimai Monogatari (The Poor Sisters Tale)
Original Title: 「貧乏姉妹物語」- Binbou Shimai Monogatari
Created by: Kazuto Izumi
Original Serialisation: Chorus Monthly
Starting date: 29th of June 2006
Animation Studio: Toei Animation (Air Gear)
Casts: Sakamoto Maaya (Yamada Kyou), Kaneda Tomoko (Yamada Asu), Shindoh Naomi (Echigoya Kinko), Kozakura Etsuko (Echigoya Ginko), Mugihito (Hayashi Genzou/Landlord), Hiramatsu Akiko (Saegusa Ranko)
Opening Theme:「深呼吸」- Shinkokyuu by Splash Candy
Ending Theme:「そよかぜらいふ」- Soyakaze Life by Sakai Kanako
Story/Impression: Kyo and Asu's mother died when they were young while their father ran away after losing a lot of money due to gambling. Kyo and Asu decide to live together in an old 40 year old apartment with Kyo supporting both of them through various part-time jobs. The story basically depicts the two sisters trying to live their life despite their situation. It'll be a really nice slice-of-life series in the tradition of NieA_7 and Honey and Clover. The only problem I can see with this series is the fact that it will be animated by Toei Animation, whose track record has been spotty at best. Toei's latest effort also happens to be Air Gear, which wasn't exactly the kind of animation showcase that I have in mind for this particular series. Having said that, maybe we'll get lucky this time around and Toei will actually produce something that people would want to watch.

Bokura ga ita
Original Title: 「僕等がいた」- Bokura ga ita
Created by: Obata Yuuki
Original Serialisation: Betsucomi Monthly
Starting Date: 3rd of July 2006
Station: KBS Kyoto
Animation Studio: Artland (Mushishi)
Director: Akitarou Daichi (Fruits Basket)
Casts: Sasaki Nozomu (Takahashi Nanami), Yazaki Hiroshi (Yano Motoharu), Kawakubo Takuji (Takeuchi Masafumi), Nakayama Erina (Yamamoto Yuri)
Opening Theme: 「君だけを」- Kimi Dake wo by Mi
Ending Theme: ?
Story/Impression: 15 Year old Takahashi Nanami enters high school with the intention of making as many friends as possible. Despite not being entirely successful with her intention, Nanami manages to befriend Yamamoto Yuri, a girl who has a different outlook on life than most girls of her age. During her attempt to make friends with other girls at her school, she hears about Yano Motoharu, a boy who seems to be rather popular with the girls at her school. Nanami eventually meet the boy in question but an incident that happens afterwards causes her to think that Yano is an annoying jerk. Despite this, Nanami begins to find herself attracted to Yano because of his mysterious personality. Later on, however, Nanami finds out from Yano's best friend, Takeuchi Masafumi, that Yano is actually connected to Yamamoto. What is the connection between these two and how will Yano and Nanami's relationship develop from here on?

I really want to be excited about this especially since the anime will be handled by Artland, which is now famous due to their work on Mushishi. The anime will also be directed by Akitarou Daichi (Fruits Basket) so it's hard to see where this could go wrong. Unfortunately, I find Yano to be rather annoying for a lead male character while the lead female character, Nanami, is not interesting enough. I think the two supporting characters, Yamamoto Yuri and Takeuchi Masafumi are a lot more interesting but I'm not sure how much focus will these two be given in the anime adaptation. In general, I'm looking forward to this series but am not as enthusiastic about it especially when compared to series such as Honey and Clover and NHK ni Youkoso!, where the plots and the characterisation are a lot more interesting. But with Artland animating the series, this definitely ends up in one of my must see at the moment.

NHK ni Youkoso! / Welcome to the NHK
Original Title: 「NHKにようこそ！」- NHK ni Youkoso!
Created by: Oiwa Kendi
Original Serialisation: Shounen Ace Monthly
Starting Date: 9th of July 2006
Station: Chiba TV
Animation Studio: Gonzo (Last Exile, Kaleidostar)
Casts: Koizumi Yutaka (Satou Tatsushirou), Makino Yui (Nakahara Misaki), Sakaguchi Daisuke (Yamazaki Kaoru), Kobayashi Sanae (Kashiwa Hitomi)
Opening Theme: 「Puzzle」- by Roundtable Feat. Nino
Ending Theme: 「踊る赤ちゃん人間」- Odoru Aka-chan Ningen by Otsuki Kenji and Kitsutaka Fumihiko
Story/Impression: Satou Tatsushirou is a Hikkikomori sufferer who spends most of his day staying inside his apartment. Despite his age, he still relies on his parents to feed himself and when the going gets tough, he often uses drugs to make himself feel better. Satou seems to think that his ailment is caused by NHK (yes, the TV Station), whom he believes attempting to turn Japan's youth into Hikkikomori sufferer through repeated exposure of anime programs. One day, however, a young girl called Nakahara Misaki approaches Satou claiming that she is going to use him to conduct her 'project'. What is Misaki's true intention in getting close to Satou and will she succeed in drawing Satou out of his enclosed livelihood? How will Satou react to a flesh and blood female as opposed to an animated one? Will Satou ever be able to achieve his dream to create ero game company with his ex-high school friend, Yamazaki Kaoru?

On a glance, people can easily dismiss NHK ni Youkoso! as some kind of story about a perverted loser who can't leave his house while others think that it's some kind of lolicon comedy. However, the real meat of the story is actually neither of those. The series is actually a very interesting look at today's society and its failings. It also offers a rather in-depth look into why some people are afraid to venture out into society, as well as their frustration at the seemingly merciless world. The manga is definitely one of the most interesting series I've ever read and I hope the anime will offer a similarly interesting experience. Unfortunately, the studio that has been given right to animate this series is GONZO, which is famous for butchering original material and relies heavily on bad CG effects. Thankfully the story in NHK ni Youkoso! does not require that many CG shots and I hope GONZO will give this series a treatment similar to Last Exile.

The Rest

Tsuyokisu (1st of July, Chiba TV)
These girls are Tsundere and the Harem lead Leo is attracted to one of them. Which girl will Leo choose? It soudns like a typical harem anime so unless it's really good, I think I'll pass on this one.

Kemonozume Sakaba (2nd of July, WOWOW)
The woman that he loves is the most fearful monster. The man that she loves is the strongest monster hunter. Why do I feel that I've heard this story before? But most people seems to be interested in it so I guess I'll give the first episode a look. The only problem is that I already have NHK ni Youkoso! and School Rumble allocated for Sunday.

Zero no Tsukaima (2nd of July, Chiba TV)
Louise Francoise LeBlanc is a female student at an all mage school who can't use magic really well. One day, however, she manages to summon a boy called Hiraga Saito into her world and made him her magic servant. It's animated by J.C Staff so the animation couldn't be too bad but I'm not sure if I'm sold on the premise which sounds rather generic. And just like Kemonozume Sakaba, this one is also aired on a rather busy day.

Project Blue SOS (2nd of July, AT-X)
In A.D 2000, humans developed a technology which allows a bullet train to travel from Tokyo to New York on the speed of 500km/h or 1 and a half hour. However, during the opening ceremony, Billy Kimura and Penny Carter witness the train disappear after being enveloped in rainbow-like colour. They eventually find out that this is not an isolated case and many other incidents occured throughout the world. Because of this, the United Nations founded a confidential Earth defence organization known as "Labyrinth Institute" (or "Mystery Machine" if you feel like Scooby Doo) to investigate the matter. Sounds quite fun and the character design reminds me of the old style Japanese animation. The only problem is that just like everything else, it falls on Sunday.

Coyote Ragtime Show (3rd of July, SUN TV)
A pirate king known as "The Blues" left an inheritance of 10 billion space dollars in a planet known as "The Graceland". However, there is a war breaking inside the planet and the restless neighbouring planets decide to destroy "Graceland" to ensure that the war does not spread to their own planet. A spirited group of outlaw and pirate known as "Coyote" has been requested by a young lady known as Franca to recover this inheritence before the planet is destroyed. The trailer and the premise makes it sounds like Cowboy Bebop so maybe I'll take a look at this since I don't have anything else to watch on Monday except Bokura ga Ita.

Muteki Kanbanmusume (4th of July, Chiba TV)
Onimaru Miki is a poster girl for her families Chinese restaurant. But instead of attracting customer, she often ends up fighting them. This sounds a little bit like Yakitate!! Japan. Depending on the adaptation, I may blog this or simply just watch it since I haven't even finished Yakitate!! Japan.

Innocent Venus (26th of July, WOWOW)
In A.D 2010, a hyper-hurricane appeared simultaneously and caused serious destruction to every country in the world. The incident claimed many life and reduced Earth's population from 8 billion to 3 billion. As a result, the economic balance and military affairs collapsed. North America, Russia, and North Europe are enclosed in ice causing the world map to change all of a sudden. Japanese government decides to create a specific economic zone in various places and believe that a 'Power Door' technology known as "Cyst" will contribute to their revival. However, as the poverty spreads to many areas, the government begins to use the power of "Cyst" to exclude the poor known as "Levinus". Fast forward to A.D 2035, our protagonist Katsuragi Take and his friend, Tsuruzawa Jin escape from special military force known as "Phantom" and decide to help an enigmatic girl known as Nobuto Shana. Okay, it sounds like it could be the same old mecha anime but the character design looks okay so depending on the first episode, I may decide to follow this.

© memento 2003